Surface covering and process of ornamenting the same



Jan. 13;? 1931. l H. w. PRENTIS, JR S? SRFACE COVERING AND PROCESS OF ORAMENTING THE SAME l Filed July 50, 1928 3 Slm-zeos--Sheei'I 2 1 ou 20a 196'J 20a 19a 20u19 l Z 20a .ga v l 20a 1961/ MME. l" y l M H. w. PRENTls, JRv

SURFACE COVERING AND PROCES-S 0F ORNAMENTING THE SAME Filed July 50, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 205 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 13, 1931 UNITED STATES PArEN'r OFFICE HENNING- W. PREN TIS, JR., Oli LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY, 0F LANCASTER, PENN 'VANIA Application led July 30,

The process of making a molded inlaid linoleum usually consists in passing the burlap backing along the bed of the molded inlaid stencilling machine. As the burlap backing passes along the bed of the machine, the dif- 2() ferent colored mixes which make up the inlaid color pattern are applied each through its own stencil. These mixes consist of the granular cork, sometimes mixed with wood flour, ,coloring pigments, and the linseed oil binder, and are in a granular condition so that they may be sifted through the stencils. The mix of one color is rst applied through" its stencil, then the mix of another color through its stencil, and so on, until the entire surface of the backing is covered with patches of granular mixes of different colors. At the lines of juncture between the patches of the dierent colored mixes the granular material necessarily intermingles somewhat. The burlap backing carrying the patches of different colored mixes passes from the sten-` cilling machine to a heated press which consolidates the granular mixes to form the completed linoleum. f

Usually the linoleum is given Vtwo pressing operations by two presses, one acting after the other. The first press which consolidates the loose granular mix, has its plate which contacts with the mix protected by a sheet of parailned paper or cloth to prevent the mix from stickin to the plate. Usually the paDeris mountedg on a roll at one side of the press and fresh paper is fed through to protect the flat surface of the press at each operation of the press. The second press SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYL-- SURFACE COVEBING AND PROCESS 0F ORNAMENTING THE SAME 1928. Serial No. 296,196. I g

operates upon the linoleum which hasbeen consolidated by the first press and it is not necessary to apply the protecting parained paper or cloth over the surfaceof the second press, so that indenting ribs may be formed on the plate of the second press in order to ornament the linoleum as hereinafter described.

The granular mixes as theycome to the consolidating press lie in patches of loose material somewhat resembling coarse damp sand. The granules therefore at the border lines between the patches inevitably become somewhat intermingled or mixed. There' fore, when the granular material is consolidated by the press, the lines of juncture between the different inlays are irregular, which is one of the characteristics of molded inlaid linoleumyas contrasted with straight lineV inlaid linoleum in whichthe lines of juncture are sharp and distinct. Inthe manufacture of straight line inlaid linoleum the inlays are made by cutting out pieces from previously calendered sheets of the consolidated linoleum mix and these cut-out pieces .are assembled upon a burlap backing and pressed into contact with the burlap backing and into firm marginal engagement with each other by a pressing operation. The result is that the sharp straight lines of the cut-out pieces are preserved in the finished linoleum.

The irregular line of juncture between the diii'erently colored inlays of molded inlaid linoleum has for many years been regarded as a -defect and as detracting froml the ornamental appearance "of the moulded inlaid goods. This has been particularly objectionable in tile pattern linoleums where the blocklike inlays corresponding to the tiles are contiguous, that is, where they are placed Side by side and without separation by narrow inlays or interliners to correspond to mortar joints between the tiles.

Because of such irregular line the surface gives the impression of a rather carelessly painted-on surface coating, and does not give the impression of clearly distinct built-in inlays which is created by a straight line inlaid linoleum with the sharp distinct lines between its tile-like inlays.

Referring for example to Humphreys reissue patent, Reissue'No. 16,510, re-issued December 28, 1926, the linoleums embodying the Humphreys invention are often made by the molded inlaid linoleum process and may be made either with or without mortar joint interliners between the tile-like blocks or inlays. When no mortar joint interliners' are used, the inlays which form the blocks of the tile pattern appear to merge into each 'other because of the irregular jpncture line,

thus destroying the impression of distinctly joints between the main block portions of the tile pattern, and bodily depressing such narrow interliners, In a tile pattern, these intei-liners are usually of a color tocorr'espond to a mortar joint material an are bodily depressed between the blocks whiclrcorrespond to the tiles. Inthis way, the objection to the irregular juncture line between the inlays has been overcome, both because of the depressing of the interliners and also because the irregular lines which run along bothl Sides of the eye of the irregular lines whichnaturally occur between the edges' of a tile and a hand troweled mortar joint between the tile.

' However, the application of the narrow interliners between the inlays has necessitated the use of a special stencil to apply the interliners in the stenciling machine. Because of the space in the stenciling machine, the number of stenciling plates is necessarily limited, and the use of one of the stencils to lay in Vthe interliners reduces the number of stencils which would otherwise-be available for the main block portions of the pattern. In producing a pattern the problem is'usually to produce it with as many shades or dierences of color in pleasing contrast as possible..

l In order to obtain the best color values with a limited number of stencils, it is desirable that the space of a whole stencil should not be utilized merely in producing the very small area of the pattern constituted by narrow interliners. i

Therefore for many patterns itis desirable that all of the stencils should be available so as to lay in the maximum number of differing colors for the main inlays.v Thus in atile pattern of the type described in the Humphreys re-issue patent, Reissue No. 16,510, it is desirable to employ all of the stencils so as to get the maximum number of different shades in the block-like tile inlays so as to simulate as wide a variety of shading as possible and to give the impression of the hit-or-miss hand laid tiles.

Where one of the stencils has to be taken for laying in the narrow interliners,` thernumber of different colors or shades availablel for y the main block-like portionV of the design is reduced. On the other hand, ifl all of the stencils are devoted to producing the blocklike tile inlays, the tile-like blocks must necessarily be contiguous and separated from each other-only by the irregular line of color juncture between them which, as above pointed out, has been found to be particularly objectionable in appearance.. I have found that the objection existing against the irregular line between the inlays, such, for example, as between the blocks in a tile pattern linoleum without interliners, may be overcome and at the same time a greatly improved ornamental effect?, given to the surface of the linoleumbydepres sing the irregular lines together with the marginal portion of at least one and preferably both of the contiguous inlays. As contrasted with the case in which an entire inlay is bodilyydepressed, as in the l. I

inlaid linoleum embodying my invention; the interliners give the general impression t0- v "linoleum of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of another, piece of linoleum showing a modification;

Figure 4 is a section through the linoleum. i

shown in Fig. 3; and

Figure 57s a plan view showing another piece of l'inoleum embodying still another modificationil Referring iirst to the embodiment of the vinvention illustrated in Figures 1 and Q of the drawings Iteference numeral 1 indicates generally a piece of molded, inlaid linoleum.

The linoleum is first made in the usual way by" vapplying the granular linole'um mixes to the bui-lap backing so as to form the inlays of differing or varying colors, indicated by reference numerals-3 to 18, inclusive. By the term differing colors lor Varying colors I mean either different oo lorsoi"v different shades of the same color. Usually in making a tile pattern linoleum such as' that shown in Figure 1, sa with a red tile effect', the inlays are` made o vmixes of rather slightly diiierent i shades of red so as to give the color contrast corresponding to the different shades of-red color given in burning tilecin a kiln. Preferably the inlays of the different colors are arranged with the irregularity of occurrence and simulating haphazard appearance as shown in the Humphreys reissue patent, Reissue No. 16,510. The irregular lines of color juncture between the inlays which are a characteristic of the molded inlaid process are indicated by the reference numerals 19.

As shown in the drawings, no mortar joint tiguity of the tile inlays and the irregular lines between the tiles, a pattern of .this type is` not well adapted to molded inlaid linoleum having the usual smooth flat surface. This type of pattern has heretofore been usually made in the straight line inlays in which the appearance of the separate tiles or blocks fitted nicely against each other can be better produced, as contrasted with the blurring or bleeding together of the edges of the blocks in a molded inlaid linoleum. I have found however that patterns of this type may be advantageously made by the molded inlaying process with an artistic effect comparable with, although differing from, that produced by the straight line inlaying process, by depressing the irregular lines together with very narrow contiguous portions of the block-like inlays.

In carrying out my process the molded inlaid linoleum is usually first made into a sheet having the flat smooth surface as given to it by the usual first press which follows the stenciling machine'. This press has a smooth flat face which can be protected against the sticking to it of the granular mixes by means of a protecting sheet of paraffined paper or cloth.

After the linoleum is thus made into a smooth sheet it then passes to the second press. The press plate of the second press is provided with narrow ribs which impress into the linoleum the narrow shallow grooves indicated by reference numerals 20 in the drawings. The linoleum at this stage has l been compressed by the first press so that a ribbed press Without a protecting layer of paper or cloth may be employed. Because of the ribs, it would not be. practicable to employ the usual protecting sheet of parafiined paper beneath this press, as the r1bs would rupture the paper.

The grooves 20 are shallow and of smooth contour so as not to catch-and retain dirt. The grooves are usually about 1/32 to 3/64 of an inch deep. They are also relatively narrow compared with the width of the blocklike inlays 3 to 18 both because the ornamental efiect is best carried out by depressing;\narrow strips along the marginal edges of the inlays and also because when narrow portions only are depressed the linoleum sheet is not subjected to objectionable stretching or distortion.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 the irregular lines preferably lie along the bottoms of the grooves 20, so that they are bordered on each side by narrow depressed marginal edges of the adjacent inlays. It will be noted that by far the greater part of each inlay is y undepressed and only the narrow strips along the marginal edges are sunk below the general surface of the inlays.

The indenting of the surface of the linoeum as herein shown produces a number of effects upon the ornamental appearance of the linoleum surface.

'The irregular line of juncture which was objectionable upon a fiat surface of linoleum and which would give the impressionto the eye that the materials ofthe different tiles noticeablethan it would be upon a fiat surface.

The sinking of the marginal edges of the inlays into the grooves gives a color variation illusion to the eye. The surface of the groove is on a lower plane than that of the main portions of the' inlays and the sides of the groove are inclined'or curved. The light flowing into the grooves therefore produces an effect of high light and shade and particularly in looking at the linoleum toward a strong light, such as a window. The color 1n the grooves lies in shadows which are surrounded by the high lights afforded by the edges-where the grooves merge into the raised portions of the inlays.I

The indenting operation tends to make the linoleum. material at the grooves flow sidewise and raises the surface just beyond the edges of the grooves very slightly above the main body or unaffected portions of the inlays, thus still further accentuating the high lights along the edges of the grooves.

The pressure afforded by the indenting ribs upon the already consolidated sheet of linoleum has a tendency to somewhat modify the surface texture of the linoleum, thus tending to give it the appearance of asomewhat different color. Also when the linoleum is waxed or lacquered, the coatin thus applied will usually be of slightly di erent thickness in the grooves than on the main 'bodies of the inlays, still further accentuat` Lthe groove, they tend to give to the eye the impression of a color composed of the blending of the two colors, and this blended color is different from the colors of the inlays on each side of the roove.

Referring again to Figure 1, let us assume for example that the various tile inlays are lof different shades of red to simulate* the different shades obtained on burning red ceramic tile, assuming, for example,` that the cross-hatching of inlay 16 indicates a light shade of red, that of inlays 13 and 14 a somewhat darkervred, that of inlays 4 and 8 a still darker shade of red and that of in lays/9, 12 and 17 a still darker shade of red.

The irregular line 19 is, of course,.forme d by the line of demarcation between the colors on each side of it. The stronger the color contrast across the sides of a portion of the line 19, the stronger will be the appearance of the line itself. Therefore, the line will tend to stand out more strongly,`say, between inlays 16 and 17 where the color Vcontrast is greatest than it will, say, between inlays 8 and 9 `where-there is less color contrast be,- tween the inlays. On a vflat-surface linoleum this difference in color contrast along one of the irregular lilies 19 as the line passes between inlays having different color contrast will tend to make the line appear as i-f it had labrupt changes in appearanceA or break at the corner of the inlays. However, because `'of the fact that the irregular line is put into a subordinate position Valong the botto'mof' the groove and further becausewhen there are two colors in the groove alongthe two sides of the line, the colors will tend to blendinto a tone about half way between them, the

surface.

irregular line will 'not have the same abruptappearance ofichange 'as .it would .on a flat In order to prevent the appearance of abrupt changes in color contrast along the lengths of the grooves and in order to'secure a better blending of the narrow depressed strips of color in the groove, it lis `preferred to make the inlays-of harmonizing4 colors or j harmonizing shades of the same color so that ferent from that produced, on the one hand Y they may merge into a vharmonious neutral appearance to the'eye along the grooves.

Because of the optical illusion'of the appearance of color shading and blending in thel grooves, the grooves will appearto the casual glance of the eye particularly when looking toward a strong light, to be of somewhatv different color than that of an undepressedinlaid portion along the sides of the grooves, and an optical im ression is created of differently shaded inter iners between the inlays, thus attaining somewhat the effect of interliners but without devoting a special stencil to the production of the interliners.

It is found that by doing away with thev interliners and utilizing all of the stencils for laying in the main block-like portions of the pattern, and by depressing the irregular lines together with a narrow strip or strips of color formed by the depressed margins' or edges of the adjacent inlay or inlays, that an artistic effect is produced which is difby employing the same color pattern without indentation, and on the other hand from employing interliners which are bodily depressed between the main blocks of color.

In Figure 3 is illustrated a modification in which the irregular lines 19-a which form the boundaries between the differently colored inlays instead of being located along the bottom groove 20-'a,.run along an edge of the groove. In this case the marginal porltion of but one of the inlays which is contiguous to the line is depressed.

The line itself is located near or upon the slope at the side of the groove. 1While it is preferred to runthe irregular line along the bottom of the groove as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 may be employed since it is found to minimize the objectionable appearance of the line and also since it gives the illusion of color shading between the depressed marginal portion of the inlays and the raised or main portion thereof. As before mentioned, this feeling of color contrast or illusion to the eye is usually heightened when the linoleum is waxed or lacquered. A `In Figure is shown another modified embodiment of the invention. The design in this case is a .so-called modernistic or futuristic design. Certain of the inlays indicated by reference numerals 30 and 31 are surrounded by depressions or grooves -b which contain the irregular color lines 19-7) and the narrow bands formed by the depressedmarginal portions of the adjacent inlays.

In Figure 5 only a-part of the irregular lines of color juncture between inlays are depressed, namely` the irregular lines of color juncture surrounding the inlays and 31, leaving the lines of color juncture between other inlays standing in emphasized and prominent-position upon the flat surface of the linoleum. This produces a highly distinctive and contrasting type of linoleum pattern.

In all of the figures of the drawings, the various cross-hatching and shade lines are employed on the inlays to indicate different colors or shades of color.

While the invention is illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 as being applied to a handcraft tile pattern linoleum without interliners, the invention may be embodied otherwise as shown for example, in Figure 5, in other types of linoleum design. The invention is there- -fore not limited to its preferred embodiment,

lar juncture lines and marginal portions only of the contiguous color areas.

2. As a new article of manufacture a decorative surface comprising .contacting areas of diifering colors having irregular lines of color juncture between them, and narrow shallow grooves impressed in the surface along such juncture lines-and including in the depressed area the irregular uncture line together with the marginal portions only of the contiguous color areas.

3. The method of decorating the surface of a linoleum having contacting molded inlays of varying colors and the irregular lines of color juncture between them characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, which comprises impressing in the linoleum surface narrow shallow grooves along the irregular lines of color juncture between inlays and thereby depressing such irregular lines into subordinate positions together with a narrow marginal por- -ion only of atleast one of the contiguous inays.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a molded inlaid linoleum comprising contacting inlays of varying colors separated by the irregular lines of color juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and having the irregular juncture lines together with narrow marginal portions of the inlays on both sides of the lines depressed below the main bodies of the inlays.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a molded inlaid linoleum comprising contacting in- `lays of varying colors separated by the irregular lines of color juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and having some at least of the irregular color juncture lines together with a narrow marginal portion only of the contiguous inlays sunk below the general surface level of such inlay.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a tile pattern molded inlaid linoleum consisting of tile-like inlays of varying colors contacting with each other and having the irregular lines of color juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and relatively narrow shallow grooves formedl in the surface of the linoleum between said tile-like inlays and following the irregular lines of juncture.

7 As a new article of manufacture, a molded inlaid linoleum having contacting inlays of varying colors and having the irregular lines of color juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and narrow shallow grooves between inlays containing the irregular line and the depressed marginalportions of the contiguous inlays on both sides of the line, the greater part of such inlays being undepressed. f

8. As a new article of manufacture, a tile pattern molded inlaid linoleum consisting of tile-like inlays of varying, and harmonzing shades of color contacting with each other and. having the irregular lines of juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and having relatively narrow shallow grooves formed in the surface of the linoleum between said tile-like inlays and containing the irregular juncture line's and depressed marginal portions ofthe inlays.

9. As a new article of manufacture, a tile pattern molded inlaid linoleum consisting of tile-like inlays of varying colors abutting with one another and without interliners, there being the irregular line of juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, and relatively narrow shallow grooves formed in the surface of the linoleum between said tilelike inlays and following the irregular lines of juncture.

10. As a new article of manufacture, molded inlaid linoleumcomprising inlays of varying colors contacting on the irregular lines of juncture characteristic of molded inlaid linoleum, the linoleum having grooves along the lines of juncture,the marginal portion of at least one of the inlays being depressed to form the groove, said depressed marginal portion being at least substantially half the width of the groove. v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

, HENNING W. PRENTIS, JR. 

